No. 627] STUDIES IN ECHENEIS OR BKMORA 



305 



We next hear of the fisherman-fish in I Ici ri'i n 's " 1 lis- 

 teria Grenerale de las Indias Occident-lies" ]iii])lisli('(l in 

 1601. In Capt. John Stevens's transLitidii \\.' rt';i<l: 



the belly [?]. li.h whi.-l! they elinjsn 'a't. um'i, - , ' - V<e 



hold, that they u.n^t be torn in pieces before ,lny , , :,.:„„. 



They ly'd these by the Tail with a Hnall Threa.l. nl.onl lu,. ha.Mred 

 Fathoms more or less in Lenjrth, and I he l-ish ^wi-ninin.;: aw.y the 

 Surface of the Water, or but a little un<ler it, when it came to where 

 the Tortoise was in the Water, it cluno- to the und(>r Shell thoreof. and 

 then the Indians drawin- [he thread, took a Tortoise that would weigh 

 a hundred Weight, or upwards. After the same manner they took 

 Sharks, which ai-e most eniel bloody Fishes that devour Men. 



Next comes Ramusio, whose "Delia Historia dell' 

 Indie" bears date Venetia, 1606. This appears to be 

 merely a translation into Italian of Oviedo's Spanish 

 work. At any rate it adds nothing to our knowledge of 

 the hunting-fish, and may be passed over with this brief 

 notice. 



Another of the "fathers" of ichthyology is Aldro- 

 vandi, whnso groat work was published in 1613. He 

 figin-cs jiiid (IcsciMbcs 1)()lh kinds of the IJevorsus. In 

 .^vllrl•;,l lie follows \\'\rv Mixvlvv, hui it is Very clcar that 

 he coj.ies (iesiier. However, he has had (Ji'sner's fishing 

 scene redrawn, as may be seen from the reproduction of 

 it heroin (Fig. 5, Plate II). The boat and boatman are 

 omitted, as is the cord around the neck of the fish, the 

 seal-like animal has been replaced by another probably 

 intended to roprosont a manatee, the turtle is entirely 

 different, and lastly the head of the Reversus is not at all 

 that of Gesner's figure. This is much larger, the teeth 

 are more marked, the upper jaw has a hooked beak; and 

 the bag of skin comes more distinctly off the top of the 

 head, and is smaller at the base and has more longitu- 

 dinal striations. And yet for all these changes it is 

 plainly Gesner's figure. 



possibly. 



